Machine for straightening railroad-rails



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

8 P. H. TREAT. E y v MAGHJNB'FOR STRAIGHTE'NING RAILROAD RAILS.

Patented Oct. 16, 1888.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Moda l P. H. TREAT. MACHINE FOR STRAIGHTBNING RAILROAD RAILS. No.286.655. Patented Oct. 16, 1883.

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(No Model.) l 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.4

, F. H. TREAT.

MAGHINE FOR STRAIGHTENING RAILROAD RALS. No. 286,655. Patented Oct. 16,1%883..

. .AL a@ l l. d l I 7 f/ "d a l -m- /g either 'end of a rail.

UNirnn S'rnrns Vnrniv'r Prion.

FRANCIS H. TREAT, OFJOLIET, ILLINOIS.

MACHINE FOR STRAIGHTENING RAILROAD-RAILS.

'srnorrronrron forming para of Letters Patent No. 286,655, dated october1e, 1883.

Application med Januaryie, 18st. (No model.)

To all whom/i5 may concern:

i Be it known that I, Farmers H. TREAT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Joliet, in the county of lill and State 'of Illinois, have"invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines forStraightening Railroad-Rails and other Similar Articles;

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the in vention, such as -will .enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to vmachines for straightening railway-rails,which operate -on the rails with sets of alternating rolle`rs.Hereltoi'ore the practice has been to journal the rollers in stationarybearings, so that the lateral thrust of the rollers, due to theresistance of `the rail passing through between them, was borne bytheir" journals and bearings. This is very objectionable for manyreasons, chief among which are the following: In order to sustain thegreat strain `due to the power required for overcoming the elastic limitof an ordinary steel rail and producing a permanent set, as must be donein order to straighten a crook or bend thereof, the rollers and thejournals so mounted must be made of inordinately large diameter', inconsequence of which the points at which they act on the rail are thrownso far apart as to greatly detract -from the eectiveness of the rollers,both as regards concentrated action and capacity of straightening crooksand bends at or' near rIlhe journals and bearings of rollers so mountedare subject to rapid and uneven wear. ,The friction incident to theoperation of such a machine is very great and absorbs an undueproportion of power.

The object oi my invention is to overcome the above-recited objectionsand others.

To this end it consists, in the main, of a machine in which the4straightening-rollers are mounted on a traveling carriage and rollalong fixed guides, the arrangement of the parts being such that thelat-eral thrust of the rollers is sustained by said guides.

Inorder that my invention may be clearly understood, I have illustrated'in the annexed drawings, and will proceed to describe, the form of myinvention in which I have embodied it in a fullsized practical machine.

section ofthe carriage on lines 5 6 7 8 of Fig.

8', and of the bedl on line 9 and 19 of Figs. L and 7. Fig. 7 is ahorizontal section on lines 1112 of Figs. 3, 5, and 6, illustrating amachine with rollers for operating on the side of Fig. 4L is a sectionale a rail. Fig. 8 is a plan or top view of the carriage minus thebevel-wheels on the roller-shafts. Fig. 9 is a detail' view of a rolleradapted for, straightening rails in lateral directions. Figs. 8, 4,5, 6,7, and 8 are drawn to a scale one and one-half time as large as thescale to which Figs. and `2 are drawn, and Fig. 9 is drawn to a scalethree times as large.

The same letters of reference indicate identical parts in all thefigures.

In practice I propose to usey two machines, one for straightening railsin vertical direov tions, and the other for straightening rails inlaterabdirections. The machines will be eX- actly alike, except that oneis constructed with smooth straightening-rollers, the other with groovedstraightening-rollers.

` The bed of the machine is very massive, and

consists of the parallel girders A A and the cross-beams A2, the latterbeing sunk low enough to leave a clear longitudinal depression betweenthe girders throughout the entire length of the bed. The girders of thebed constitute the guides which sustain the thrust of thestraightening-rollers, due to the passage of a crooked rail throughbetween them. The inner side of the girders are clad with straight steelplates or ways BB', on

which the straightening-rollers move and roll. These ways areaccuratelyy paralleled to each other, so as to compel thestraightening-rollers to travel. in straight parallel lines asthey arerolled along them by the traveling carriage. Vay B is rigidlybolted to`girder A by means of bolts af. Vay B is adjustably connected to girdcr Ain such a manner that it may be readily movcd toward or away vfrom way Bfor pun i assess? poses of adjustment and taking up wear, withoutdisturbing the parallelism of the ways. To

-this end I arrange a wedge, D, between 'girder A and way B, acounter-wedge, B2, being bolted to the back of said way by bolts a,

which pass through a central longitudinal f bolts a.

, pass throughlongitudinal slots Z of the wedge,

` the-outer end of the wedge.

so that the latter may be moved endwise with-A out interference. A stiffcompressed spiral spring,va, is placed on each bolt c2, between themetal of the girder and a nut-on the outer endof the bolt. These springshold the counter-wedgeof way B in firm but yielding contact with thewedge B3. The kwedge is operated by means of a screw, B", which isswiveled in the outer end of a projecting' sleeve, A3, Aof the bed, andengages a nut formed -on In the machine which I'have'built the inclineof the wedge'is oneeighthof an inch to the foot, and the screw has oneinch pitch, so that each turn of the screw will effect a lateraladjustment of the way -B'equal to one ninety-sixth of an inch, which Ihave found to be sufficiently delicate for practical purposes.

The carriage C, 011 which the straighteningrollers are mounted, isprovided with carwheels c at each end, whereby it is supportedontrack-rails C, laid on the girders of the bed. In the machineillustrated four alternating straightening-rollers are used, arranged insuch manner that two will operate on each side ofthe rail. All therollers are powerdriven. I donot desire to limit myself to the use ofthis number. More may be used, and the additional rollers may also bepowerdriven, although I deem it sufficient to drive four for-the properoperation of themachine. The straightening-rollers of the machine foroperating on the head and foot of the rail are smooth cylinders, whilethose of a machine which operates on the sides of the rail are groovedcylinders, such as shown in Figs. 7

`and 9. No further description will be given of the-latter, it beingunderstood that they are ymountedand operated in all respects like thestraightening rollers of the machine for straightening-.rails in theirvertical directions, which willnowbe explained in detail.

` The two straightening-rollers vD D roll on way-B, the other two, D D,on way B. Each straightening-roller D is keyed, respectively, tothelower tapering end of an independent vertical shaft, E, which isjournaled-in a vertical sleeve-bearing, E, of a bracket,- E, supportedat its base in cross-guides E2 of the carriage. n .Each straighteningroller D is any position of the latter on the bed. severalstraightening-rollers are all of the same occupiedby the rollers.

keyed, respectively, to the lower tapering end of ah independentvertical shaft, F, which is journaled in a vertical sleeve-bearing, F3,of a bracket, F', supported at its base in crossguides FZ of thecarriage. Thus each straightening-roller is free to move laterally withits bearing on the carriage independently of every otherstraightening-roller. The travel of the carriage on therails C is to beeffected by the rotation of the straightening-rollers. In order thatthere may be sui'iicient 'friction for that purpose between them andtheir ways at times when there is no rail between the-rollers, thebrackets of the rollers I) are separated from the brackets of therollers Dby stiff compressed springs E, supported' ou rods, as shown.These separating-springs, whose tension may be readily adjusted byshifting the nuts on their supporting-rods, also serve to cause therollers D to follow the adjustments of ways B. All thestraightening-rollers are bellow the frame of the carriage, and they are'k arranged vertically, in order that scalegpeel- Z ing from the railVmay readily fall clear of the i rollers, and thus be prevented fromaccumulating to clog or otherwise impair the action 1 of the machine.

To the upper ends of shafts E E .are -keyed bevel-wheels E5 E5, whichare driven by bevelpinions E E on one end of transverse horivzontalshafts E7 E7, journaled in sleeve-bearings on fixed standards of thecarriage.

To the upper-ends of shafts F F are keyed bevel-wheels F4 F", which aredriven by Vbevel-pinions F5 F on one end of transverse horizontal shaftsF FG, journaled in sleeve-bearings on fixed standards of the carriage.The

' outer ends of shafts F7 ET are provided with l fast pulleys E8 E, andthe outer ends of shafts 'F6 Fi with fast pulleys F F7. are driven froma pulley, H, on the trans- The pulleys E verse horizontal driving-shaftG of the machine, through the medium of a belt, H,

while the pulleys F7 are driven from a pulley, I, on saiddriving-shaft,through the medium of abelt, I. Thedriving-shaft Grismounted on suitablestands acrossl one end of the machine, andthe belts II andIpass aroundidl'e or. guide pulleys (marked-IFI2 and I2, respectively) at the otherend of the machine and stationary with lrespect to the travelingcarriage.

Thus the belts will drive thepulleys of the carriage in The diameter,and the pulleys and wheels for driving them are soproportioned that therollers turn with equal speed. It will be readily understood thatsincethe travel of the carriage @is caused by the progressive rolling ofthe straightening-rollers on their ways or guides, and correspondsexactly with kthe speed with which the rollers draw a railthroughbetween them, therefore, the travel of the carriage must ICO IIO

y of the driving-'shaft G, and consequently that of thestraightening-rollers, as well as the `travel of the carriage, areautomatically reversed. The following are the 'means for accomplishingsuch reversals: The drivingshaft carries two loose pulleys, K and K2,one of which is to be driven by a straight belt and the other by acrossed. belt from suitable pulleys on a counter or line shaft, so as tobe revolved in opposite directions. In the adjacent sides of these loosepulleys female 'cones the machine is at rest or is to be brought to astandstill.

The feathers k k are connected by a collar, It', secured to thefeathers, but loose on the shaft. On one side of this collar alever-arm, L5, is mounted loosely on the shaft, and on the other side ofthe colla-r a similar lever-arm, L, is loosely fitted on the shaft. Theinner Yfaces ofthe hubs of these lever-arms are flat and bear on theopposite sides of the collar k', while their outer faces are providedwith similar but reverse cams, which bear, respectively, on cams ontheadjacent faces oflever-'arms If and L8, the cam-hub of the former ofwhich., LT, occupies the space between the cam-hub of lever-arm L5 andloose pulley K2,

Y rig.

l. arm by connecting-rod L4.

rock-shaft, M, operates the crotch through an transmit its motion to theother.

while the cam-hub ofthe latter, LS, occupies the spacebetween thecam-hub of lever-arm L6 and a Washer or cap, Z, on the shaft, all asshown in Lever-arms L5 L are connected to the slotted arm L2, fixed onone end of a'rockshaft, L, by the connecting-rod L, and leverarms L LEare connected to the same slotted To the other end of the rock-shaft Lfis xed a crotch, L', by means of which the shaft is rocked in onedirection or the other and to therequired extent for shifting themale-cone pulley as far as may be necessary. A tappeti-arm, in, of aanti-friction roller mounted on a laterallyprojecting stud of saidtappet-arm. An upright lever, Mi, is lined on rock-shaft M, and asimilar upright lever, M3, is fulerumed on a bracket at the end of themachine remote from that where lever M is located. Similar arms of theselevers M2 and M3 are connected by taut wire ropes m and m2, so that onewill Near 'each end of wire rope m. a tappet, vmi, is secured to it. Thecarriage C strikes one of these tappets as it approaches either end ofits track, and oseillates levers Mnl and M, causing the tappet-arm m onlever M2 to turn thecrotch L in one direction or the other, as the casemay be, whereby the double-cone pulley K is shifted through thedescribed intermediate mechanism yfrom one female cone to the other andits rotation reversed.

I do not limitl myself to the use of thelbefore-described reversingmechanism, because other Vsuitable known reversing` mechanisms may be.used in lieu of it, and though I believe this particular reversingmechanism to be new and patentable, yet I shall make no claim for it inthis patent, since I intend' to make it the subject of a separatepatent.

In order that the travel of the carriage may be reversed at any point onits track for the purpose of passing the straighteniiig-rollers` both toreverse the travel of the carriage and to stop the operation ofthemechanism altogether,

by shifting the double-cone pulley to a middleA position between thedriving-pulleys.

Suitable spring-buffers, N, are mounted on the bed at each end, adaptedtoeheck the progressive motion ofthe carriage in case of any derangementin the reversing mechanism, and

,to prevent the carriage from passing beyond and falling from its track.

A number of rollers, O, are mounted on the bed beneath the travelingcarriage, and about midway between the straightening-rollers D D on theone hand and the straighteningrollers D D on the other. These rollers Oserve to support and in a measure guide the rail as it is being drawnthrough between the straightening-rollers.

The screw for moving the wedge of the adjustable way B may be operatedby any convenient or suitable mechanism. I have illustrated onepracticable means of operating it from the driving-shaftG of themachine. A pulley ,l?, is keyed to said shaft, to drive through a belt,p, either one of three pulleys, Q QF Q". lPulley Q turns loosely onshaft Q. .Pulley Q2 is keyed to one end of said shaft, near the otherend of which a bevelpiniou, R2, iskeyed. Pulley Q is keyed to the sleeveof a bevel-pinion, It",which turns loosely on shaft Q. Bevelpinions R2and It mesh into bevel-wheel R' on diametrically-opposite sides thereof,so that they may drive it in opposite directions. Bevel-wheel It iskeyed to one end of shaft It, to the other end of which a spur-pinion,CB, is keyed, adapted to drive a spurwheel, B5, keyed to the end ofscrew Bi. Normally belt p will run on pulley Q. By shifting it ontoeither ofthe pulleys Q? or Q3, the screw B4 may be turned in onedirection or the other, and the wedge properlymoved to adj ust way B.

y rlhe detailsof the machine are susceptible of various modifications,and, therefore, I do not limit myself as to some of the ensuing claimsto any details of construction. W'hile I have described the `machine asmore especially designed fer straightening railroad-rails, it will beobvious that the invention is equally ap- IOO IIO

IZO

plicable to the straightening of iron and steel beams, channel-irons,and the like,such changes being made in the form of the straightening-4rollers and dimensions ofthe parts as circumstances may require.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim isl. The combination,substantially as before set forth, of a traveling carriage, a series ofalternatin g straightening-rollers mounted th ereon, and stationaryguides or Ways along which said rollers roll, and which sustain thethrust thereof.

2. The combination, substantially asbefore the carriage automatically ateither end of its track, or by hand at any point.

4. The combination, substantiallyas before set forth, of a travelingcarriage, aseries of alternating straightening-rollers mounted thereon,stationary guides or ways along which said rollers roll, and whichreceive the thrust thereof, and rollers for supporting and guiding therail or other article in its passage through the machine.

5. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of a travelingcarriage, a series of alternating straightening-rollers mounted thereon,stationary guides or Ways along which said rollers roll, and whichsustain the thrust thereof, an independent sliding bearing for eachroller, and springs separating opposed rollerb earin gs to force therollers into frictional contact with their Ways. y

In-testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANCIS H. TREAT.

Witnesses:

Guo. J. MUNRon, 5S. O. SIMoNDs.

